Reality Check
by SaltyJak
Summary: For all her past faults, one could safely say that the red-headed ex-babysitter made an excellent doctor... Or she would, once she actually became one and graduated up from being a medical intern. Still, if there was one thing her mentor/boss told her that should've stuck, it was that doctors should never treat family...


The red-haired woman strode over to the main desk of the intensive care unit of Dimmsdale General. As always, her hair was up in its characteristic ponytail style, though while she merely preferred to have it like this in the past, she now kept it in a ponytail for function. Last thing she needed was for her long hair to get caught in a patient's IV, or stuck to some medical tape.

Vicky leaned on her elbows, themselves resting on the edge of the main desk, and looked down at her outfit in mild annoyance. She _hated_ wearing baggy clothes, even if the dark blue scrubs she wore _were_ standard attire for interns, medical students, and even some doctors at the hospital. And she didn't even want to _think_ about the poor excuse for shoes she had to wear... As if Crocs could be called shoes.

After several seconds of silence, Vicky sighed loudly, hanging her head in exhaustion as she closed her eyes. She'd been working for about six hours now; two to go, unless she was needed, or someone didn't show up for their shift, though most of her fellow interns were well aware of what unfortunate fate might befall them should they think about not coming in.

"I know that feeling."

The voice was accompanied by a low thud as Vicky felt someone mimic her position against the main desk and lean into her. The red-head turned to her left and opened her eyes, finding her face mere inches from a familiar blonde woman's, and said woman's blue eyes staring right into Vicky's. "Doctor Mason." A keen ear might've picked up the barely perceptible affection in the red-head's voice.

The blonde woman, who wore a set of scrubs similar in color to those worn by the pink-eyed woman next to her(though these were under a white lab coat), chuckled at the title Vicky gave her. "How formal... And impersonal. Should I start calling you 'Intern Valentine'?" The blonde leaned ever closer, her face now centimeters from Vicky's.

"Tch." The red-head flinched and looked away with a light pink blush on her cheeks.

"Aha! Another game of chicken goes to me!" The blonde doctor fist-pumped in reserved triumph. "And to think you used to be this tough babysitter that scared all the boys and girls in your neighborhood! How could someone as adorable as you possibly scare anyone?"

"Heather..." Vicky muttered, her tone low and dangerous. "The idea of being in a secret relationship with someone that works under you is to keep it a secret!"

"Oh, you're absolutely right! Imagine if someone saw me doing something like-" Heather cut herself off as she quickly leaned in, looped her right arm around Vicky for balance, and placed several light kisses on her cheek, punctuating each one with a loud smooching sound, and making the red-head's body freeze up and go rigid in her grip. " _That_. Besides-" The blonde woman began whispering sultrily into Vicky's ear. "I don't think I've had the pleasure of you serving under me yet...!"

Vicky immediately blushed a wonderful shade of scarlet. "Dammit... What if someone sees?!" She whispered out harshly and glanced around, making sure nobody was paying them any mind. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy her girlfriend's little affectionate gestures, but she _knew_ there'd be severe consequences for the both of them if they were caught. Dating your boss was usually frowned upon, no matter where you worked.

"Like anyone here gives a damn." Heather pulled away slowly, letting her hand slide off Vicky's right shoulder, across the middle of her back, then over her left before leaving the red-head's body completely. "And in case you haven't noticed, we're the only people around at the moment... Not counting the patients, all of whom are in varying degrees of unconsciousness."

Vicky's response was to glare at the blonde, but found the act rather difficult with Heather smiling at her cheekily as she held her clipboard against her chest with both arms. "Why are we dating again?"

"Hm... If I remember correctly, you wanted to 'try something new', what with your bad experiences you've had with boyfriends in the past." Heather glanced down at her clipboard, then suddenly looked up gleefully as she remembered something. "Oh! And because you _love_ me."

"The Hell was I thinking...?" Vicky pinched the bridge of her nose in fake annoyance. "Anyway, you havin' lunch with me?"

"Nope!" The blonde responded immediately, the infectious smile still on her face.

"W-why not?!" The red-head exclaimed much like a child who wasn't getting her way. "I thought-"

"I know what you _thought_ , but I can't see the future. I need to write up a referral for surgery for Mister Sanders, and I have to go take care of one more case down in the clinic. Seeing as how there aren't two of me -much as I'm sure you wish there were-" Heather winked at Vicky, making her blush again. "I just don't have time to have lunch, sorry." The woman at last shrugged and put on her best sad face, frowning in an over the top manner.

"Maybe..." Vicky stepped closer to her girlfriend, looking over the top of the clipboard to see the patient's name. "I could take care of one of those things? Then could we go and have lunch?"

"Aw... You're so cute when you wanna help, but are too embarrassed about it. Must be a real switch from that big, bad, evil babysitter that goes bump in the night- Ah-heehee!" Heather cried out as Vicky roughly yanked one of the clipboards away from her, though began giggling shortly after as the red-head's face began to match her hair in color again.

"I'm gonna kill you when we get home-Hey!" It was Vicky's turn to cry out in protest as Heather switched their clipboards with near inhuman speed. "What gives?!"

"Much as I hate to have to pull rank on you, you're still a med student for a _little_ while longer. I'm afraid I can't let you refer a patient to surgery in good conscience, so if you _really_ want to help, get your sweet ass down to the clinic and see what that girl's belly-achin' about." Once again, Heather smiled at her girlfriend and co-worker cheekily.

And once again, Vicky glared at the woman-child she called her girlfriend. "When we're at _work_? We need to focus on our _work_ thoughts."

"Whatever, Red. See you in the cafeteria in fifteen?" Heather winked at the red-head again.

"Don't be late." Vicky spun around to face the elevator, only to let out a loud squeak as something that felt very clipboard-like slapped her on her butt, making the ex-babysitter look over her shoulder at Heather, who now smiled at her innocently.

"Don't _you_ be late. Doctor's orders."

For the sixth time inside of five minutes, Vicky blushed as she stepped onto the elevator, then turned around to face Heather and mouth the words: "I'm going to kill you later." Before the elevator doors shut.

"So adorable." The blonde tucked a strand of her short-ish hair behind her ear as she returned her attention to her remaining clipboard. "Mister Sanders... Mmm... Heart surgery. And... Suggestion to cut down on all that damn fried chicken."

 _Meanwhile..._

Vicky; thoroughly embarrassed at Heather's actions, stuck the clipboard under her left arm as she rubbed her mildly sore rear-end. She was currently attempting to look annoyed, or at least indifferent, but every time she met the gaze of her reflection in the mirror-like elevator doors, she'd get a steadily building feeling of giddiness, which was followed by a quiet giggle, making her blush all over again and repeat the cycle.

After a full minute of this repetitious sequence of events, Vicky let out a sigh of defeat. Heather hadn't been wrong in what she said. The fiery-haired woman who was commonly seen as this evil, horrible witch in the eyes of most of Dimmsdale's younger population(and a few adults) had softened to such a degree that her established reputation was barely applicable. She'd hopelessly fallen head-over-heels for a girl one year her senior, both in age and education.

Not to say the relationship started out as even remotely romantic. The ex-babysitter was more interested in pursuing her education, leaving room for no distractions, be they people or things. Their first meeting was brought about by nothing more than necessity; Vicky needed a place to stay while she went to a medical school just outside Dimmsdale, and Heather needed a new roommate since the last one moved out. For all intents and purposes, it was a simple arrangement, and had no reason not to stay that way: Simple.

At first, anyway. Anyone who knows Vicky, however, knows that she's bound to butt heads with _someone_ eventually. And with the pink-eyed woman spending most of her time at either the school she and Heather attended, or their apartment, and Heather herself being the kind of person that was overly friendly to the point of involving her roommate in whatever she happened to be doing, the two were near constantly butting heads and fighting... Or rather, _Vicky_ fought, slung insults, threatened to break things(including the blonde's bones), and generally acted like her well-established reputation depicted her.

While Heather; on the other hand, was all too happy to let everything slide, like water off a duck's back. It seemed that nothing could faze the girl, the threats, fights, insults... All were met with that same cheeky-yet-sly grin. And that's not even mentioning how strange the girl could be. Vicky had woken up in the middle of the night on numerous occasions(either to get a drink, or got to the bathroom, things like that), to find that the blonde had worked her way out of her own bed and into Vicky's. The first time it happened didn't bother her, with Vicky assuming that Heather was either drunk, or was tired from a long day at school.

The next time, Vicky almost woke the blonde up to start another argument(where she'd be the only real participant), but opted instead to get out of her own bed and sleep in Heather's, it was too much work to wake the woman up... and she did look kind of cute... Maybe.

Except she woke up the next morning to find her roommate sleeping next to her again. And realized later that same morning that Heather didn't drink, which only led the red-head to the(correct) assumption that the blonde was finding her way into whatever bed Vicky slept in on purpose. This revelation itself making Vicky confront her-

 _DING_

Vicky jumped at the loud 'ding' noise the elevator made, then looked up at the floor indicator, which currently flashed a bright red number one. "Gotta stop daydreaming..." The red-head cracked her neck and yawned as she stepped out of the elevator. Even as a third year med student, she still wasn't used to getting up as early as she usually had to.

Stepping over to the clinic's main desk area, Vicky focused her attention on the only person behind the desk, a girl also wearing scrubs like Vicky's, though hers were a light pink color. "Um... Hi. I'm... Covering for Doctor Mason, I guess? She told me to take care of her last clinic patient while she refers someone to surgery." At this, Vicky looked over her shoulder at the waiting area, finding that it was quite barren of patients. "Slow day?"

The nurse, a somewhat short girl with brownish-blonde hair and a nametag identifying her as 'Jenna', chuckled at Vicky's observation. "Not necessarily a bad thing when you work in a hospital, right?"

" _Right, you're a doctor. Pretend you care."_ The red-head mentally scolded herself. "Heheh... Yeah, that's true." In truth, Vicky's only reason for becoming a doctor was because the profession tended to pay extremely well. She could count the number of people she was willing to help for nothing in return on one hand, not exactly a good trait for her profession, but emotional distance was pretty useful when your job sometimes entailed telling people they were going to die.

"As for your patient... Um..." Jenna turned her attention to the computer she was seated in front of. "Oh! I remember her, she told me she was feeling a little nauseous and went to the bathroom, I'll send her into exam room one when she comes back, alright?" Jenna smiled sweetly at Vicky.

" _Another one... How can so many people that work here be so smiley and happy all the time?"_ "Thanks." The red-head turned away from the main desk and opened the wooden door marked 'Examination Room 1' and stepped inside, taking a quick look around the room as she placed her clipboard on the small side table, then shut the door behind her as she moved to lean on said table. It was her hope that she'd be able to get this over with quickly, she'd heard her fair share of horror stories related to the clinic, most people who came in weren't checked for infectious diseases, and the last thing she needed was some moron coughing on her and giving her-

 _Buzz_

Vicky rolled her eyes as she felt her pager vibrate weakly. "Do you _not_ realize it takes longer to perform a medical examination than it does to fill out a surgery referral?" The red-head unhooked the pager from her belt and looked at the small screen.

 _You're late. 3_

"And you're a pain in my ass." Vicky deadpanned to herself, opting not to send Heather a message, it tended to be more fun to leave her hanging... And worrying. The red-head smiled evilly as she reattached the pager to her belt, at which point it occurred to her that she'd yet to even check her patient's name, nevermind her symptoms. Just as she raised the clipboard in front of her face to see why this person was here in the first place, Vicky heard the doorknob of the examination room door click and said door slowly swing open. "Nobody knocks these days..." Vicky muttered as she again rolled her eyes and lowered the clipboard. "Hi, I'm covering for Doctor Mason at the moment, name's-"

"Vicky?!" The girl who entered, a somewhat short teenager with jet-black hair done up in a ponytail not dissimilar to the red-head's own, and a pair of distinctive purple horn-rimmed glasses, exclaimed as her violet eyes met Vicky's pink. She was a dead-ringer for Vicky's sister Tootie, likely because she _was_ Tootie.

For several seconds, the normally calm and collected(except when around her girlfriend) red-head was frozen in place, completely speechless at her sister's presence. Granted, the chances of your family showing up at the place you worked were rather high if you happened to work in the same city they lived in, and it was even more likely since Vicky worked in a major hospital like Dimmsdale General, but still, she was shocked. Shocked to such a point that it took the clipboard slipping out of her fingers and clattering on the floor to shake her from her stupor. The next thing Vicky knew, she was being suffocated as Tootie squeezed the life out of her in a long overdue bear hug.

"Sis! I missed you! Why haven't you called? You know I text you all the time, right? Did you finally get your medical license? You're a full-fledged doctor now? How are things with your roommate? I remember you saying she could be a pain at times... Mom, Dad and I were gonna come visit if we didn't hear from you by the time school got out! ...Are- Are those _Crocs_?!"

Vicky's brain, now well on its way to crashing from oxygen deprivation and the storm of questions being directed at it, was able to form a single coherent sentence in response. "Tootie? I can't breathe." The red-head patted her sister's shoulders in a weak attempt to get Tootie, now shaking with excitement, to release her.

"Oh! Sorry, Sis! It's just so good to see you after so long!" The raven-haired girl took a step back as she released Vicky at last, her cheeks stained a light pink color as she scratched her nose with her index finger.

"Phew..." Vicky sighed in relief as she filled her lungs with air. "Still got that nervous habit, eh Toots?" The red-head smiled at her sister, genuinely glad to see her after so much time apart.

"Shut up..." The younger Valentine giggled at her sister's teasing. "So you work down here now, or...?"

"Nah, my boss asked me to take care of her last clinic patient, who happens to be you, and I didn't have anything else to do, so I figured, why not? Good thing I came down here, huh?" A slight nervous feeling came over Vicky as she nonchalantly eyed the clipboard on the floor. _"Tootie's here for something... So what is it?"_

"Yeah, we wouldn't have met otherwise... Which is your fault. I know becoming a doctor is important to you, but it wouldn't kill you to let us know how you're doing..." Tootie crossed her arms over her chest and frowned, having gotten over her earlier excitement from seeing her sister.

"What do you want me to do? I'm an intern _and_ a medical student. It's pretty hard to get time off around here, especially since I'm not even officially hired yet. If my boss hadn't put in a good word for me, I might still need a doctor looking over my shoulder for every little procedure." Vicky shrugged, acting calm as always as she stooped to pick up the dropped clipboard, though on the inside, she was understandably freaking out. A million different diagnoses were already screaming through her mind, and she really hoped they were all wrong, and that Tootie just had something easy, like a sprained ankle or a headache.

"Well if your boss is so understanding, why not ask him-"

"Her." Vicky corrected as she looked at the clipboard in her hands.

"Okay, why not ask _her_ for a little time off to visit your family?" Tootie hopped up onto the exam table and kicked off her shoes.

At this question, Vicky had a mental image of asking Heather for a few days off to visit Tootie and her parents, only for the blonde to not only agree, but insist on coming with her to meet them. _"Mom, Dad, this is Heather, my boss. And roommate. And girlfriend."_ Vicky shook her head back and forth at the mental image. _"Yeah, we're not doing that."_ "Tootie, working at a hospital is different from working at a fast food joint or convenience store. You can't just ask for days off like you can in those places..." Vicky trailed off as she focused on the questionnaire her sister had filled out. _"Let's see... Tiredness, nausea,_ _occasional stomachaches... Shit..."_ "Um... These symptoms... they're accurate?"

"You think I'd lie about how I've been feeling?" Tootie asked in an obviously amused tone. "Yeah, everything I checked off is the truth." The raven-haired girl kicked her legs against the exam table in a carefree manner, not really expecting there to be much wrong with her other than a cold or something.

"Are you... Peeing more than usual?" Vicky asked hesitantly.

"Well... I guess so... Why? Do you... Know what's wrong with me?" Tootie, picking up on her sister's uncertainty, began to feel a bit nervous herself.

"I... I know what it _sounds_ like you have..." In only a few minutes, the red-head had come to hate her profession, and all the knowledge it brought with it. All of Tootie's symptoms, coupled with her relatively young age... "I think you... might have Diabetes, Sis."

"Diabetes? You mean that thing that happens with your pancreas? The same thing that fat guy in the commercials talks about? 'Diabeetus'?" Tootie spoke in a tone that sounded like a bad Wilford Brimley imprseeion.

"...Yeah..." Vicky admitted as she rubbed the back of her head. "I um- I want you to get some blood work done so we can be sure. Maybe I'm- I mean, I hope I'm wrong, but these symptoms coincide with high blood sugar, something you really shouldn't have at your age unless your pancreas isn't working right..."

"Wow... I- T-Talk about a bummer..." Tootie hopped back down off the examination table and into her shoes.

"Let's uh... Let's not get too hasty here. I _am_ just a med student, for all I know, it might be... Something else..." Vicky winced at how her voice sounded in her ears. _She_ didn't even believe her poor attempt at reassuring her sister.

"Yeah, but... You've been right so often in the past... What are the chances of you being wrong about this?" Tootie sighed, already having written herself off as having the disease.

"Aw, come on! Don't get all depressed like that... Gonna get me feeling shitty..." Vicky looked away, unable to meet her sister's eyes, thinking the sight might make her tear up. "Look, I have to go get my boss, just hang out in the waiting room until I come and get you, alright?"

"Your boss? What for? Doesn't she have other, more important patients to deal with?" Tootie asked as she raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"This patient-" The red-head tapped her finger against her sister's forehead. "-Is the highest priority. Mister Sanders' fat ass can wait." Vicky stepped toward Tootie and shoved her out of the exam room as she finished.

Tootie opened her mouth to protest, but was too little too late as the large wooden door was shut in her face. "...Who's Mister Sanders?"

Vicky; meanwhile, whipped out her cell phone and frantically dialed Heather's number, pacing impatiently as the phone rang. Nothing would make her happier than to be wrong about Tootie's diagnosis, but the signs were there, and she couldn't think of anything else it might be at the moment. After a few more rings, she heard the blonde answer.

"For someone who wants to follow proper hospital procedure to the letter, it's kinda odd that you're fine with using a cell phone in a building that clearly states that you _shouldn't_." Heather spoke in an uninterested tone between bites of her sandwich. "So what can I do for my _favorite_ intern... Hey! Don't give me that look! She works harder on her worst days than you do on your best, Doug! ...Sorry about that, so what's up?"

"I need a favor. I need you to tell the nurses down at Phlebotomy to push a patient's name to the front of the line, can you please do that for me?" Much as she hated to have to resort to pleading, Vicky would do it in a heartbeat for her sister, no matter who she had to plead with in the first place.

"Oh? You got a crush on someone in the clinic, Miss Valentine?" Heather asked teasingly with a grin.

"Heather, please just- It's my sister, alright? She might have- I dunno, I hope I'm wrong, but she might have Diabetes. The symptoms are definitely there, and she's right around the age that people get it, so... I just need to know if she does or not."

The blonde woman sighed, feeling a little guilty for not taking the situation seriously, despite how desperate Vicky sounded when she answered. "...Just say so next time. Meet me down there in five, I'll do the blood draw myself." Heather stood up to leave, then paused and looked back at her lunch. _"_ _Though I_ am _pretty hungry..."_ She quickly returned to her table and grabbed her sandwich, preparing to leave for real this time.

The pink-eyed woman found herself momentarily caught off guard at how sincere her girlfriend sounded, but quickly recovered with a small smile on her face. "I- ...Thank you, we're heading over there right now." She began moving the phone away from her ear-

"Hey, before you hang up..." Heather spoke over a mouthful of sandwich.

Vicky paused and brought the phone back next to her ear. "Y-yeah?"

The blonde swallowed her food before she continued. "I know we're both doctors, and probably tend to think the worst, especially when family's concerned, but... I'm sure she'll be okay, so try not to worry so much, alright?" Heather felt totally out of her element now. She spent much of her time teasing the red-head, and Vicky wasn't exactly keen on opening up all that often(which probably wasn't helped by the aforementioned teasing), but the desperation in her voice... It actually made the blonde doctor's heart hurt a little, and she didn't like that feeling. Unfortunately, she had precious little experience reassuring people, and somehow got the feeling that assuaging her girlfriend's fears would be a fruitless endeavor.

"Fuck... If only it were that easy, right?" Vicky wiped at her eyes, being unsure if she'd begun crying or not, but wiped at them all the same. _"_ _Jeez, why am I crying? Diabetes isn't a death sentence..."_

"Were it so easy that you could just reassure someone's injuries and problems away, there wouldn't be much need for us, would there?" Heather moved at a brisk pace, the elevator already having come into view and the cafeteria far behind her.

"Ugh... I _really_ don't need you getting all philosophical on me right now..." The red-head shook her head, but smiled in spite of her worry. A hard feat for anyone who wasn't the blonde woman to accomplish. "I'll see you in a few." Vicky hung up and pocketed her cell phone, releasing a shaky breath as she did. Three years of med school and four of college did _not_ prepare her for this kind of stress. Knowing her being stressed out would only make Tootie worry more, the pink-eyed woman lightly patted both of her cheeks several times, then wiped her eyes for good measure as she exited the exam room.

The waiting room remained quiet and barren as ever as Vicky passed Jenna and the main desk. The back of Tootie's head quickly came into view, along with someone elses. This person(she assumed male) had a head of medium-short, darkish brown hair, topped with a pink baseball cap. _"...No. No way could he be here too-"_

"Hey Sis, we all set to go?" Tootie smiled at her sister, clearly less perturbed about the possibility of having a life-threatening illness now than she had been a few minutes earlier.

Tootie was all but ignored, however, as Vicky's gaze was focused entirely on the brunet-haired teenager sitting next to her sister. She had thought that maybe, _maybe_ it wasn't him. There were plenty of people with brown hair in this day and age, and even the ridiculous pink hat could be excused as someone who just had as poor taste in hats as the person she was thinking of did, but now she could see her sister's companion's face. The buck-teeth you could land a plane on(okay, so they were smaller, and the rest of him had grown to make them look less ridiculous, but still), the mildly feminine features, even for a boy his age, and of course, those striking, bright blue eyes. He chuckled somewhat nervously under her scrutinizing gaze and waved. "Heh... Hi Vicky... Long time no see?"

And finally the voice; older, a little deeper and more mature, but a dead-ringer for the boy she affectionately knew as 'the Twerp'. "The Hell are you doing here?" She watched as the brunet shrunk back at her usage of such a tame word as 'Hell', evidently mistaking her normal manner of speaking for disdain toward him.

"Nice to see you too..." Timmy broke eye contact with his ex-babysitter and turned his attention to something less angry, like the floor.

"Why can't you two ever get along?" Tootie asked exasperatedly. "You'd think a few years of not seeing each other would decrease the animosity..."

"I wasn't trying to-!" Timmy sighed in frustration. "I was just saying hello..."

"No! I wasn't saying- ...I didn't mean you..." The raven-haired girl nudged Timmy's leg with her own, then turned to her sister with an annoyed expression on her face. "Can you _please_ give me _and_ him a break? Just this once?"

"Ugh..." Vicky rubbed the back of her head, annoyed at herself for the way she greeted Timmy, and the fact that Tootie and her ex-crush could still be so sensitive about something like the word 'Hell'. "Sorry. I just didn't expect to see either of you today, especially not you, Timmy. It kind of surprised me and... It just slipped out. Really, it's nice to see you two."

"Alright, you don't have to try _that_ hard." Timmy giggled at the red-head's heartfelt apology.

"Once a Twerp, always a Twerp." Vicky facepalmed and shook her head back and forth.

"'Least I'm consistent. How come you don't visit anymore? Huh? I thought Tootie and I were your favorite victims?" The brunet, feeling much more relaxed(especially with Tootie by his side, giving him immunity from any retributive acts by his ex-babysitter), teased her with a grin.

"I would, but you see, I'm generally pretty busy _saving lives_." Vicky shot back forcefully.

"Oof... Nevermind. If you're gonna play the 'I'm a doctor' card, I respectfully surrender." The brunet waved his hand in a shooing motion at the red-head as he looked away.

"One apology later, and you two are best buds..." Tootie looked back and forth between Timmy and her sister with a look of clear and obvious disbelief on her face. "Why don't you two just go fuck in the exam room and get it out of your systems? I'll wait here."

This earned her disbelieving looks that rivaled her own from both Vicky and Timmy. "Watch your mouth, Toots." The red-head crossed her arms over her chest and looked at Tootie sternly. "And I wouldn't jump his bones in an _alternate_ universe, nevermind this one."

"Oh now you're just being mean." Timmy placed his right hand over his heart, acting as if her comment had hurt him that much.

" _Anyway_... I called my boss, she's gonna meet us there and handle the blood draw personally, so you'll be in good hands. Ready to go?" In truth, Vicky wanted to ask Timmy's reason for being here, he was likely missing school to be here with Tootie, who didn't seem all _that_ sick, but the sooner her sister got the blood test, the sooner Vicky could relax, knowing that she was fine(hopefully), so for now, the red-head held her tongue.

 _A few minutes later..._

" _No way. No fucking way are they-"_ Vicky, now seated in a chair in the waiting room of the phlebotomy lab, bore a look on her face that suggested she was viewing some strange alien life-form, rather than her little sister and said sister's perpetually unrequited crush sharing a mildly intimate moment. Specifically, holding hands and gazing longingly into each others' eyes. _"I'm imagining it, that's gotta be it. Tootie's always been really clingy with the Twerp, and he's just... Just being there as her friend, no way are they-"_ Vicky watched as Timmy spoke a few reassuring(she assumed) words to Tootie, then leaned in to plant a brief peck on the raven-haired girl's lips. "Okay..." The pink-eyed medical student perked up as Heather came up behind Tootie and tapped her on the shoulder, then bid for the teen to follow her as she gave Vicky a(not very) stealthy nod.

"That your boss?" Timmy plopped down in the chair next to Vicky's, making his ex-babysitter jump in surprise, and the brunet-haired teen chuckle in response.

"When did _that_ happen?" The red-head nodded her head toward Tootie just as she disappeared behind a corner.

"Hm? What? Me and Tootie? She... didn't tell you?" Timmy looked at Vicky in confusion, finding it odd that, as well as the two sisters got along, Tootie had apparently not told the woman that he and her were dating.

"Uh, yeah. Last I heard, you two had the brother-sister thing going on, and she seemed pretty happy with that arrangement. What changed?" Vicky leaned on her elbow, itself resting on the chair's armrest, doing her best to look bored and uncaring, but in reality, being quite interested in how her Twerp and Tootie got together.

"We got caught in the rain." The brunet shrugged and relaxed in his own chair.

"Okay, now tell me what actually happened. You're expecting me to believe that a little inclement weather prompted you two to start dating? And why did it just happen to take effect that particular time? I'm sure you've both been caught in the rain before that, considering _your_ habit of sleeping in and missing the bus on occasion." Vicky shoved Timmy shoulder playfully, thinking he was messing with her again.

"That's really what happened though. The day didn't start unusually, and we spent most of it being teased about how 'cute of a couple' we'd make. Same as most days. Then, when we were heading back to my house to do homework, the sky just opened up." Timmy shrugged again, then scratched at his chin in thought. "There was just something about how she looked, soaked with rainwater, panting from having to run to my front door... Ah... Sorry if I... kinda sound like a perv..." The brunet's cheeks changed to a light pink color as he remembered who he was describing Tootie to.

"Wow. Sounds like your typical cliché romance scene..." Vicky shook her head back and forth. _"Wish I could get something like that..."_

"Yeah, I guess so." Timmy looked at the red-head out of the corner of his eye, unsure if he should ask his next question, or do the more logical thing and keep his mouth shut. "You- Uh... You're not pissed at me... Right?"

"Pissed at you? For what? Dating Tootie?"

"Well... Yeah. She's mentioned a few times that you might be, um... Protective of her. And I know I'm not exactly your favorite person on the planet, so... I've kinda been worrying about how you might take the idea of... me and her, y'know?" Timmy was relieved that he was able to finish explaining himself without chickening out, but felt like his face was on fire due to how flushed it had become.

Vicky had to hold in a chuckle as the more timid side of her ex-charge made a reappearance. "It's not like I've got anything personal against you, Timmy. I always had a feeling that you'd give in to my sister eventually... And, honestly? I made peace with that a long time ago. Out of all the Twerps I knew as a babysitter, you're the one I'd prefer her to date over all the others. Because I knew you... I like to think I still do, to an extent, anyway." She sighed as she finished, feeling strangely relieved at having admitted what she did to Timmy.

"Are you sure you're the same Vicky I used to know?" The brunet leaned in close, staring right into the red-head's eyes with a quizzical look.

"Way to ruin the moment we were having, Twerp." Vicky facepalmed.

"Seriously though, what changed? You and I have never been on the best of terms, even shortly before you stopped babysitting me. We got along... But you loved to tease me-"

"I _still_ love to tease you." Vicky corrected the brunet. "Don't think for a second that that's gonna change... I'm still me, but I like to think I'm a better person now than I was then. And what about you?"

"What about me?" Timmy asked in a mock-offended tone. "I'm still the same, nice, helpful, totally not narcissistic kid you knew all those years ago."

"Wow, modest too." The red-head deadpanned at him. "I meant it's nice to see you finally grew a spine. Back when I babysat you, you'd never even _think_ about joking around with me, yet here we are bantering back and forth like old friends, so what changed you?"

"...Promise you won't laugh?" Timmy asked as he looked at Vicky seriously.

"No." The red-head responded instantly.

Her quick answer made the brunet hesitate for a few seconds, but eventually, he continued. "I think a lot of it has to do with Tootie. We definitely took the long way around to being... More than friends, and I was hardly fair to her growing up." Timmy trailed off as he looked away nostalgically. "And then I just kinda surprised her about a month or so ago when I kissed and... She makes me want to be better."

To the surprise of the red-head herself, Vicky didn't laugh at his sappy-sounding reasoning. On the contrary, she was fairly taken aback by his wording, it sounding more like a confession than anything else. "So... It sounds like you really care about her..."

"I know how it sounds." Timmy remarked in a somber tone. "I _do_ care about her, more than anything or anyone I've cared about in the past."

"But... You're not sure if you love her?" Vicky took pause at how she sounded. Never in a million years did she think she'd be having a heart-to-heart with the Twerp.

"I don't exactly have a lot to compare how I feel about her to. It's... it's not the same as things were with Trixie. At the same time though, how I felt about Trixie doesn't even compare to what I feel for Tootie. I kinda understand the distinction between a simple little crush and... Whatever this is..."

"Sorry to say, but I doubt I'll be of much help. Don't exactly have a lot of experience when it comes to relationships myself... And they've all ended badly anyway." The red-head frowned as she mentally reminisced on her past relationships. The one with Heather was currently the longest running, and the only person outside her family she felt comfortable enough to use the 'L' word around, though that was hardly any of Timmy's business.

"Really? There's no special person in Icky Vicky's life right now?" Timmy quirked an eyebrow up in interest. This happened to be the closest he'd ever come to figuring the red-head out, and he wasn't gonna back down now.

"Ugh, that fuck- _frickin'_ nickname... Must you remind me of that jackass?" Vicky facepalmed with both hands and groaned as long-forgotten memories of Chip Skylark and his hit single 'Icky Vicky' flooded her brain.

"Sorry!" The brunet giggled at the memory. "I had to get at least one Icky Vicky in since you still insist on calling me Twerp. Last one, promise."

"Hmph. Maybe you're not as much of a Twerp as I thought." Vicky moved her hands from her face to meet Timmy's expectant blue eyes again. "Right, you wanna know if I'm seeing anyone."

"Fair's fair." The teen shrugged. "Not like I'm gonna scream that you're seeing someone from the rooftops, and I'm not a gossip hound like Trixie and Veronica, so...?"

" _I guess there's no harm in telling him... But what if he tells Tootie? ...Scratch that, Heather's probably telling Tootie, knowing how she is..."_ "You _really_ wanna know?" Vicky grinned slyly at the teen. Honestly, she wasn't ashamed in the least about dating Heather, there were more important things for her to worry about than the fact that she was seeing a woman. Of course, this being Timmy, a self-admitted perv and a guy, he'd probably think the idea of his attractive babysitter dating an equally attractive woman was the hottest thing ever, which would likely lead to the poor brunet's head exploding.

"No, I asked because I _don't_ wanna know." Timmy replied in a deadpan tone.

"Alright, alright... So... You know that blonde doctor that came and got Tootie for the blood draw?" Vicky's sly grin remained on her face as she spoke.

"Hm? Oh right... Um... Doctor Mason, right? She's your... Boss or something? I think that's what Tootie said." Timmy raised his index finger to his chin in thought.

"Yeah-huh. She's also my roommate that I met when I needed a place to live while I attended med school. She's _also_ my girlfriend." The woman blushed as the word 'girlfriend' left her mouth.

Timmy looked at Vicky in genuine disbelief for several seconds, then narrowed his eyes in annoyance. "Really."

"Don't gimme that look!" Vicky raised her voice to yell at Timmy, but covered her mouth and looked away as she saw that she was drawing the attention of the lab receptionist to herself and the boy next to her. After several seconds, she turned back to face Timmy, whose gaze had apparently never left her. "It's true, okay? What would I have to gain by lying to you about something like that?" The red-head now spoke in a much lower and more subdued tone of voice.

"I dunno. Maybe you wanna see how dumb I look when I try to imagine you and her going at it." Timmy frowned as his brain began to do just what he said it would.

Vicky's previously light pink blush quickly darkened to an obvious red at this. "I- We haven't done that- I mean-! Tha-That's none of your business!"

"Ooh... Touchy, touchy..." Timmy smirked and poked at Vicky's flushed cheek, earning him a light swat from the woman. "Heh, with that kind of reaction, I guess you _are_ telling the truth." The brunet pulled his hand away and relaxed back into his seat. "So, when did _that_ happen?"

The red-head glared at Timmy, realizing he reversed her earlier question right back onto her. "Couple months after I moved in with her."

Timmy looked at her again, wondering if she'd continue, but chose to speak up himself when it was clear she wasn't going to. "Alright, mind if ask how it's going then?"

"How what's going?" Vicky asked disinterestedly. _"If he asks about sex again..."_

"The relationship. You asked me how I felt about Tootie-"

"You _told_ me how you felt about Tootie, like it was something you were desperate to get off your chest." The pink-eyed woman corrected Timmy with a smug smirk.

"Whatever!" The brunet laughed. "Yeah, so maybe I needed to tell _someone_. You think I can tell AJ or Chester? I'd absolutely _never_ hear the end of it... Anyway, I told you how I feel, so it's your turn to share with the class."

Vicky opened her mouth to speak, then, thinking better of it, closed it and looked away, her cheeks once again turning a light pink color as she did. Yes, she had told her blonde roommate on more than one occasion that she loved her, not in quite the same sappy romantic tone that Heather had used earlier, but she did use that powerful little word... "I already told you, I don't really know much when it comes to relationshippy stuff. Heather and I- …It was... It started as just a fling, nothing more."

"...There's a 'but' in there though." Timmy guessed, sensing that his ex-babysitter was hesitating in telling him the whole story.

She chuckled humorlessly at his response, realizing that the years had certainly made him smarter, if only a little. "Yeah, there almost always is, isn't there...?" Vicky sighed and rubbed her forehead with her right hand. "It was _supposed_ to stay as 'just a fling', and just a fling it stayed... For a while..." The red-head suddenly turned and faced Timmy fully. "Look, Heather and I will be in serious trouble if the chief of medicine finds out about this, so I need you to promise you'll keep this to yourself, alright?"

"Oh, well since the chief of medicine is my best friend..." Timmy remarked sarcastically and rolled his eyes. "Vicky, I'm not gonna tell anyone, jeez..."

Ignoring the brunet's sarcastic tone, she continued. "It's... kind of hard to explain, but... I started to like Heather for real. I figured it was just nice to have someone to hang out with and... occasionally _make out_ with, but then I started really enjoying being around her, even so far as _missing_ her when she went to attend classes and I stayed home, since I had the day off. I can't believe I'm asking you for advice, but... What does it mean when you can barely start your day without your... Well, in my case, roommate being there?"

"Well... I know what it _sounds_ like..." Timmy nudged Vicky with his elbow as Tootie reentered the waiting room and walked over to them. "So, how long do you have?" The brunet asked with a grin, indicating he was joking.

"Not funny." Tootie shifted from one foot to the other nervously. "She said she'd do the test herself; be quicker that way." The raven-haired girl looked at Vicky now. "She also said that _you_ requested she do just that. Wanna tell me what she meant by that?" Tootie tilted her head slightly and raised a curious eyebrow at her sister, who might as well have been whistling like a guilty character in a cartoon show with the way she was looking at her nails, refusing to meet Tootie's gaze. "Vicky?" The bespectacled girl turned her attention from her sister to her boyfriend. "What'd I miss?"

"Just a little catching up, right Vicky?" Timmy looked at the red-head. He knew when to speak, and when to hold his tongue; and Vicky being in a relationship with another woman was something that made more sense for her to tell people, rather than him.

"That's one way to put it..." Vicky rolled her eyes as usual, this time only pretending to be annoyed. "But we _did_ have an interesting talk about _you_ , Toots."

"Oh? Um... Heheh... What about?" Tootie's cheeks took on a noticeably darker reddish tint, feeling slightly worried about just _what_ her boyfriend and sister might've discussed in her absence. The prime candidate being herself and Timmy having sex _before_ even agreeing to the relationship.

"Don't play dumb with me, Tootie. You finally convinced the Twerp to give you a shot! I don't remember you texting _that_ to me!" A wide grin spread across Vicky's face, the red-head being genuinely happy for the two teenagers.

" _Oh thank God..."_ Tootie thought in relief. "It was... kind of supposed to be a surprise... Y'know, assuming you ever came to _visit_?"

"This again? I told you, I can't just ask my boss for a few days off to visit family-"

"Why not?" A female voice invited itself into the conversation, interrupting the red-head's defense of her actions, and making the three participants look at Heather, who now held a sheet of paper in her hand that the three assumed held Tootie's test results. "Correct me if I'm wrong Miss Valentine... Ugh, that's so formal and... And Icky! Oh! You ever been called Icky Vicky? It's got a nice ring to it..." The blonde trailed off as she tried to remember why 'Icky Vicky' sounded so familiar, but quickly remembered where she was when Timmy giggled and her girlfriend cleared her throat angrily. "Oh! You probably want your test results. Had a blonde moment there... Let us see... Oh. Oh my. This doesn't look good at all... Hm."

"So... What is it? Diabetes?" Tootie asked dejectedly.

"Is it worse? Don't tell me it's cancer...?" Vicky joined in, her medical expertise being more detrimental to Tootie's state of mind than helpful.

"Jeez you two... It's probably just a cold or something..." Timmy patted Tootie's shoulder reassuringly as he looked to Heather for confirmation. "...Right?"

"Wrong on all accounts I'm afraid. You see it's... It's... A wasted lunch." Heather deadpanned as she released the paper holding Tootie's test results, letting it flutter into Vicky's waiting lap. "Seriously Vicky, next time you call me sounding all worried, make sure it's actually an emergency, 'kay?" The blonde winked, but if this were a cartoon with speech bubbles, her sentence would most likely have ended with a heart emote. "I had to waste half my lunch, and all because you didn't ask your sister if she's sexually active."

The waiting room suddenly went very quiet. All eyes(except Heather's) falling on the sheet of paper resting in Vicky's lap.

"So, who's hungry? I'm free for the rest of the day." Heather offered, but was ignored in favor of the paper. "C'mon now... A diagnosis of Life is hardly a medical emergency..." The blonde brought her hands up to the back of her head, being pretty unaffected by the results of the blood test.

"So..." Timmy spoke up at last, seeing that his girlfriend and her sister were still quite speechless. "Tootie's... Pregnant?"

"Thank God, I thought I stepped into the Twilight Zone and nobody could talk... Yeah, that's what the test indicated." Heather moved next to Vicky and leaned on the red-head's shoulder with her elbow. "But you immediately saw the worst case, that's why doctors shouldn't treat their own family." The blonde shook her head back and forth, pretending to be disappointed in Vicky. "Now... Food?"

"Wow..." Timmy plopped back down into his seat at the news. _"How do you even react to that?"_ The brunet looked at Tootie, who still had her back to him as she looked at her test results, evidently having as hard a time as he was at wrapping her head around them. He felt so stupid now, as the two had been amorous on more than one occasion since getting together, and not once did the topic of birth control ever come up.

"Um... Hello~? Food? Anyone? Free lunch here, you guys are missing out..." The blonde doctor asked again, sounding just a bit whiny.

"So..." Vicky began hesitantly, feeling unsure about the best way to word her next question. "I'm gonna have to assume that, unless you two have a _really_ open relationship, this is most likely the Twerp's doing?" She honestly thought she'd be... well, a little more pissed off that Timmy had not only taken her sister's virginity, but also knocked her up. Maybe she was in shock?

"Um... Ye-Yes." Tootie nodded, clearly still dumbstruck at the news. How was she supposed to react? It's not like she was trying to get pregnant... The more heated moments in their relationship just kinda... Happened. _"What if he thinks I did though? Like this was some sort of elaborate trap to make sure he stays with me...?"_

"Why is everyone ignoring me? Cute blonde doctor, hungry and offering to pay for lunch over here!" Heather snapped her fingers in front of Vicky's face to no avail.

The red-head ignored her girlfriend, doing little more than lightly pushing her hand away. "...Fuck, you two are stupid. Don't they teach you in _middle_ school about pregnancy and contraception these days?!"

"Well... Yeah... Of course they do." Tootie scratched the tip of her nose with her index finger. "We just..."

"Never really thought it'd... Happen to us?" Timmy interjected, finishing Tootie's sentence with a question.

"Well, news flash, when you have unprotected sex, the chances of getting pregnant tend to be pretty high." Vicky stated matter-of-factly.

"You know what? I don't have to take this! I'll get my own lunch! Just for me!" Heather walked out of the waiting room in a huff, leaving Vicky, Tootie, and Timmy behind.

"Um..." The brunet looked to his ex-babysitter, whose gaze still remained on the sheet of paper in her lap.

"Give her a second."

Heather suddenly stuck her head back into the waiting room, now glaring daggers at Vicky. "Would you just come already?!"

"Well, I'm not gonna turn down a free meal, so... Bye!" Tootie darted out of the waiting room after Heather, her concerns about Timmy momentarily forgotten in favor of getting some food in her stomach.

"Finally! You're _so_ much more fun than your sister..." Timmy and Vicky watched as Heather slung her arm around Tootie's shoulders and the two left the waiting room for real.

"Uh... I don't have to worry about your girlfriend stealing mine, right?" The brunet looked at Vicky, a mildly worried expression on his face.

"I doubt it. Heather's just trying to get a rise out of me..." She shook her head, feeling a bit embarrassed at her girlfriend's childish antics. "So... What's the plan when it comes to... Y'know?" Vicky moved her hand over her stomach, drawing a dome shape to indicate a distended belly in the air over it.

"Is that even a question?" Timmy looked at the woman quizzically, not quite understanding what she was insinuating.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure it is." Vicky narrowed her eyes at the brunet, immediately assuming the worst. "I don't know what Tootie wants, but if she wants to keep it, and you even _try_ to convince her to get rid of it... No doctor in this hospital will be able to save you from what I'll do to you." The woman's voice had a dangerous, terrifying edge to it. Her threat on his life deadly serious, yet, to her surprise, the teen didn't flinch this time, but instead narrowed his eyes at her, looking at her in a manner that almost seemed... Disgusted, yet that was easily overpowered by a stronger emotion: Hurt.

Unfortunately, Timmy wasn't so good at looking intimidating, and his eyes widened to clear away the look of disgust, leaving only the hurt. "Never realized you thought so poorly of me..." The teen broke eye contact with his ex-babysitter and(he thought) friend, turning his gaze down to look at his lap contemplatively. "What... What have I ever done to make you think I'd do something like that to her?"

Tough as nails as she was, Vicky realized nearly instantly that she'd made a monumental error this time, forcing her to look away from the Twe- Timmy ashamedly. Her assumption that he'd be the same as any other guy was so far off, it made her wish she could go back in time and un-say it. Again, she'd forgotten how sensitive he was emotionally, even if he put up a confident facade that was eerily similar to her own, her sudden distrust after basically telling him she _did_ trust him just a few minutes before was enough to cut right through the facade and pierce his heart.

At one time, she would've loved to see him so broken so easily. Now though... Now she just felt like the worst person in the world. "Timmy, I-" Her voice cracked as she began-

"The _fuck's_ it matter anyway?" Timmy stood up from his seat, making the red-head flinch, both at how quickly and angrily he rose, and by his _very_ precise f-bomb. She'd never heard Timmy swear, not in all the time she knew him did he even say something as simple as 'damn'. "I'm still just a stupid kid to you, right? And here I was hoping that'd changed, that we could build up some semblance of a normal relationship for Tootie's sake, and mine too. But that's not good enough, is it? You're always gonna see me as the irresponsible ten year old you babysat and treated like dirt..." The brunet took a few deep breaths after finishing, his anger having quickly petered out. "...Maybe you don't trust me." Timmy wiped his hand across his slightly itchy eyes. "And I get that. Maybe I haven't done enough to deserve your trust, but as bad as you could be, Vicky? I _never_ hated you, and I _always_ trusted you." Wanting little more to do with the conversation, Timmy moved to walk past Vicky.

"Timmy, wait-" The red-head reached out and curled her fingers around the teen's right wrist, intending to try her best to make things right.

This made the brunet take pause in his departure, if only for a second, before yanking his wrist out of her grip and leaving the waiting room.

She watched him leave, then sighed, mostly at herself, and how stupid she'd just been. "Dammit... Why do I paint myself into these situations...?" Vicky looked up, meeting the meek green eyes of the phlebotomy receptionist. "Take a fucking picture, it'll last longer!"

At this, the reddish-blonde female ducked out of sight, likely to crawl under her desk and avoid the clearly insane medical intern.

"Well-" Vicky stood up out of her chair with an exasperated groan. "Better go 'make things right'..."


End file.
